Factores que inciden en el desarrollo de la teoría de la mente en niños con discapacidad auditiva / Fatores que influenciam no desenvolvimento da teoria da mente das crianças com deficiência auditiva / Factors affecting the development of theory of mindin deaf children

La pérdida de audición no sólo tiene consecuencias permanentes en el desarrollo del lenguaje oralsino que, por su papel fundamental en procesos cognitivos más complejos, puede alterar el desarrollo intelectual, emocional y social del niño. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo revisar los estudios sobre el desarrollo de la teoría de la mente en los niños con discapacidad auditiva (DA) y, por lo tanto, trata de aclarar el panorama de la investigación reciente sobre cómo es la pauta de adquisición y qué factores explican dicha pauta en niños con DA. Se comprueba que los niños signantes tardíos presentan retraso con respecto a sus iguales oyentes en relación al desarrollo de la teoría de la mente aunque siguen la misma pauta de adquisición

A perda de audição não tem somente consequências permanentes no desenvolvimento da língua oral, mas, pelo papel fundamental que tem nos processos cognitivos mais complexos, pode alterar o desenvolvimento intelectual, emocional e social da criança. Este trabalho tem como objetivo revisar os estudos sobre o desenvolvimento da teoria da mente em crianças com deficiência auditiva e, portanto, busca apresentar o panorama da pesquisa recente sobre como é a pauta de aquisição da teoria da mente e quais são os fatores que explicam essas pautas nas crianças com deficiência auditiva. Comprova-se que aquelas crianças que aprendem língua de sinais de forma tardia apresentam um atraso com respeito a seus pares ouvintes no tocante ao desenvolvimento da teoria da mente, porém mantêm a mesma pauta de aquisição

Deafness has not only permanent eff ects on oral language development but its role in complex cogniti ve processes can alter the intellectual, emoti onal and social development. This paper aims to review the literature in recent years on development of theory of mind in deaf children and therefore clarify how is the patt ern of acquisiti on and what factors explain this patt ern in deaf children. The results indicate delay in the development of theory of mind in late signers compared to their hearing peers. Yet, the same patt ern of acquisiti on is found in deaf and hearing children.

Perception and development of theory of mind reasoning in asurini children, from amazonia, Brazil

Theory of Mind (ToM) approaches the ability to understand the possibility that even if one individual thinks something, another individual may think it differently. ToM is essential to socialization and it is developed around the age of 5 years. Most studies on the subject were made with children from industrialized societies instead of being made with children from traditional ethnic societies. This study aims to provide ToM developmental data from a sample of indigenous ethnicity – Asurini ethnicity. A sample of 35 children aged 2-10 years took part in this research. They were individually presented to a standard false-content task. The results did not indicate that 5 years is a marker of ToM in all children, this ability was manifested in children with age of 3 (25%) to 9 years (67%), and in all participants aged 10. This variation could be related to typical environmental and ecological arrangements of the ethnicity.

A Teoria da Mente (TdM) aborda a capacidade de entender a possibilidade de que mesmo se um indivíduo pensa alguma coisa, outro indivíduo pode pensar diferentemente. O desenvolvimento da TdM é essencial para a socialização, o que se inicia em torno dos 5 anos. A maior parte dos estudos sobre o tema foi realizada com crianças de sociedades industrializadas ao invés crianças de sociedades étnicas tradicionais. O presente estudo teve por objetivo fornecer dados referentes ao desenvolvimento da TdM em uma etnia indígena brasileira – a Asurini. Trinta e cinco crianças com idades entre 2 e 10 anos participaram de uma tarefa de falsa crença. Os resultados não indicaram que 5 anos é um marcador da TdM em todas as crianças, habilidade que se manifestou em crianças entre 3 (25%) a 9 anos (67%) e em todos os participantes de 10 anos. Essa variação pode estar relacionada à organização ambiental e ecológica específicas.

Comprensión social y lenguaje: ¿dos dominios? / Social Comprehension and Language: Two Domains?

Desde su incursión en 1983, las Teorías Infantiles de la Mente han sido una fuente que ha nutrido las discusiones sobre el desarrollo de la comprensión social. Recientemente, se han vinculado un número creciente de estudios que buscan indagar por el papel que cumple el lenguaje en cada uno de sus dominios y los investigadores han encontrado conexiones interesantes tanto en los aspectos sintácticos como en los aspectos semánticos y pragmáticos. El objeto del presente estudio de revisión es indagar por esa fecunda relación a fin de proponer algunas rutas y vías de interés para investigadores que tienen en los niños su principal foco de atención, así como, para los educadores y todos aquellos profesionales que han encontrado útil el aporte de las indagaciones sobre cognición social y lenguaje.

From their incursion in 1983 the Children Theories of the Mind have been a source that has nourished the discussions on the development of the social understanding. Recently, there are tie an increasing number of studies that they look for to investigate by the paper that fulfills the language in each of its dominions and the investigators have found interesting connections as much in the syntactic aspects as in the semantic and pragmatic aspects. The object of the present study of revision is to investigate by that fecund relation in order to propose some routes and routes of interest for investigators whom its main center of attention has in the children, as well as, to the educators and all those professionals who have found the contribution of the investigations on social cognition and language useful.

The dissociation of understanding others’false beliefs from applying others’false beliefs in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

Objective To investigate the ability of understanding others’false beliefs and the ability of applying others’false beliefs in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia, respectively. Methods Thirty first-degree relatives of schizophrenia and forty-four normal controls were involved in the present study. The ability of understanding others’ false beliefs and the ability of applying others’false beliefs was assessed with understanding task and applying task with a computerized referential communication paradigm, respectively. Results In understanding task, there was no signifi?cant difference between first-degree relatives and normal controls on False Belief Probe(Z=-0.26, P=0.80)and Reality Probe (Z=-0.41, P=0.68). In applying task, first-degree relatives performed worse than normal controls on tasks of False Belief Command(Z=-4.09, P<0.01), but not Reality Command(Z=-0.21, P=0.83). Conclusions The findings suggest a dissociation of understanding others’false beliefs from applying others’false beliefs in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia.

A relação entre a atenção compartilhada e a teoria da mente: um estudo longitudinal / The relationship between joint attention and theory of mind: a longitudinal study

Este estudo avaliou a relação entre a habilidade de a criança compartilhar sua atenção com a atenção de outras pessoas e o desenvolvimento posterior da teoria da mente (i.e., a compreensão de que as pessoas possuem estados mentais como, por exemplo, desejos, intenções e crenças), em uma amostra de 28 crianças de famílias de classe média-baixa/média-alta. Os resultados mostraram que a habilidade de as crianças seguirem o gesto de olhar ou apontar do examinador aos nove meses de idade predisse significativamente seu desempenho em tarefas de crença-falsa aos quatro anos, independentemente de variações na inteligência não verbal. Esses resultados sugerem que, desde o final do primeiro ano de vida, as crianças interpretam o gesto de olhar/apontar das pessoas ao seu redor como ações intencionais.

We investigated the relationship between infants' ability to coordinate their attention with that of other people and later Theory of Mind skills (i.e., the understanding that people have mental states such as desires, intentions and beliefs) in a sample of 28 children from middle class families in Brazil. Results showed that children's ability to follow the examiner's gaze and pointing gestures at nine months of age significantly predicted their performance on false-belief tasks at the age of four years, independently of variations in their non-verbal intelligence. These findings suggest that, at end of the first year of life, children's joint attention behaviors indicate intentional understanding.

Teoría de la mente en tareas de falsa creencia y producción narrativa en preescolares: investigaciones contemporáneas / Teoria da mente em tarefas de falsa crença e produção narrativa em pré-escolares: investigações contemporâneas / Theory of mind in false belief tasks and narrative production in preschoolers: contemporary research

Este artículo presenta una reflexión sobre el desarrollo de la producción narrativa y el de la teoría de la mente en la etapa preescolar. En cada campo se plantean sus bases conceptuales, reportes y evidencias investigativas. Se muestra que en la producción narrativa los niños adquieren de manera relativamente tardía en su primera infancia las primeras habilidades que les permiten organizar una narración para contarla a otros. Se señala, además, que el desarrollo de la teoría de la mente está relacionado con el del lenguaje, aunque se cuenta con menos estudios sobre su relación con la producción narrativa. Se identifica la necesidad de un marco integrador de las explicaciones de las variantes conceptuales y metodológicas planteadas en esta reflexión.

The paper conducts a reflection on the development of narrative production and the theory of mind at preschool level. Conceptual bases, reports, and research evidence were provided for each field. The study shows that children acquire the abilities to organize a narrative relatively late in early childhood, and that the development of the theory of mind is related to that of language, though there are few studies on its relation to narrative production. The study suggests the need for a framework that integrates the conceptual and methodological variations postulated in the reflection presented.

Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre o desenvolvimento da produção narrativa e da teoria da mente na etapa pré-escolar. Em cada campo são usadas bases conceituais, registros e evidências investigativas. Mostra-se que na produção narrativa, as crianças adquirem de maneira relativamente tardia na primeira infância, as habilidades iniciais que lhes permitem organizar uma narração para contá-la a outros. ademais se assinala que o desenvolvimento da teoria da mente está relacionado com o da linguagem, embora existam menos estudos sobre sua relação com a produção narrativa. Identifica-se a necessidade de um marco integrador das explicações das variantes conceituais e metodológicas propostas nesta reflexão.

Tres debates fundamentales en el campo de la teoría de la mente: aspectos teóricos y metodológicos / Three fundamental discussions in the field of the theory of mind: theoretical and methodological approaches / Três debates principais no campo da teoria da mente: aspetos teóricos e metodológicos

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar tres de los debates más representativos en el campo del desarrollo de la Teoría de la Mente (TdM) en los niños. Para este efecto se discutirán los siguientes temas: 1) el término TdM (Premack y Woodruff, 1978; Reddy, 2008; Wellman 1990/1995); 2) los mecanismos cognoscitivos involucrados en la comprensión de la TdM (Perner, 1991/1994; Leslie, 1987, 1994; Reddy, 2008); y 3) las tareas utilizadas para medir la TdM (Chandler, Fritz y Hala, 1989; Reddy, 2008; Wimmer y Perner, 1983). Las conclusiones apuntan a un cuestionamiento del término, a una mirada más amplia de las teorías que sustentan los mecanismos cognoscitivos y a una postura crítica de las estrategias metodológicas utilizadas en estos estudios.

The aim of this paper is to analyze three of the most representative debates in the field of development of children's Theory of Mind (ToM). This paper will discuss the following topics: 1) the term ToM (Premack and Woodruff, 1978; Reddy, 2008; Wellman 1990/1995); 2) the cognitive mechanisms involved in understanding ToM (Perner, 1991/1994; Leslie, 1987, 1994, Reddy, 2008); and 3) the tasks used to measure ToM (Chandler, Fritz and Hala, 1989; Reddy, 2008, Wimmer and Perner, 1983). The findings point to a questioning of the term, a broader view of the theories underlying cognitive mechanisms and a critical stand of the approaches used in these studies.

Neste artigo se analisam três debates representativos na área de desenvolvimento da Teoria da Mente (TdM) em crianças. Para o efeito, se debatem os seguintes assuntos: 1) o termo TdM (Premack e Woodruff, 1978; Reddy, 2008; Wellman 1990, 1995), 2) os mecanismos cognitivos envolvidos na compreensão do TdM (Perner, 1991, 1994; Leslie, 1987, 1994, Reddy, 2008), e 3) as tarefas utilizadas para medir a TdM (Chandler, Fritz e Hala, 1989; Reddy, 2008; Wimmer e Perner, 1983). As conclusões apontam para um questionamento do termo, uma visão mais ampla das teorias subjacentes aos mecanismos cognitivos e uma posição crítica das abordagens metodológicas utilizadas nestes estudos.

An fMRI Study Regarding the 'Theory of Mind' in Korean Schizophrenic Patients Using a First Order False Belief Task / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate brain activation during a Korean language-based 'theory of mind (TOM)' task and fMRI in Korean schizophrenic patients. METHODS: Fourteen Korean schizophrenic patients and 15 normal controls participated in this study. For all participants, several clinical states and psychosocial functions were evaluated. The subjects were then scanned while performing Korean language-based fMRI tasks. The tasks were comprised of conditions-first order false belief (TOM task), physical causality, and unrelated situations. Imaging data were analyzed using SPM2 software (uncorrected p<0.005, extent threshold kappa=10). RESULTS: 1) Compared with the control group, the patient group showed significantly poorer performance on the TOM task, and no significant correlation between TOM and empathic abilitiesy. 2) In the patient group, there were no significantly activated brain regions associated with the TOM task as compared to the physical causality task. With respect to between-group differences, the patient group showed significantly less activation of the left medial frontal region (primarily BA 8) and signifcantly different activation of the left precuneus (BA 7) associated with the TOM task. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Korean schizophreniac patients show different brain activity associated with TOM functions, especially with respect to the Korean language-based first order false belief tasks.

Interacciones entre el entendimiento de la falsa-creencia y el desarrollo de la habilidad verbal: Diferencias entre los sexos en edad preescolar / Interactions between false-belief understanding and verbal ability development: Sex differences in preschool children

En este artículo se analiza el desempeño de niños y niñas en la resolución de tareas de falsa-creencia y se explora la posible influencia del desarrollo de las habilidades verbales sobre las diferencias de rendimiento entre ambos sexos en dichas tareas. El trabajo incluye dos estudios: En el Estudio 1 se comparó el entendimiento de la falsa-creencia y la habilidad verbal de 17 niños y 17 niñas costarricenses de 5 años, con el entendimiento de la falsa-creencia y de la habilidad verbal de 17 niños y 17 niñas costarricenses de 6 años de edad. Para el Estudio 2, los mismos participantes del grupo de 5 años del Estudio 1 fueron reevaluados después de un período de 3 meses. En el Estudio 1, el grupo de niñas de 6 años evidenció un desempeño significativamente mayor que el grupo de niñas de 5 años, tanto en el índice de habilidad verbal como en el entendimiento de la falsa-creencia. En contraste, entre los niños de 5 y 6 años solo se encontró un incremento no significativo en los puntajes de ambas variables. Luego de reevaluar a los participantes de 5 años, el Estudio 2 confirmó estas diferencias entre ambos sexos y verificó que los incrementos entre ambas variables son mutuamente dependientes. Los hallazgos principales de ambos estudios señalan diferencias significativas en el desarrollo cognitivo de los preescolares según su sexo. La relevancia de los resultados se discute en el contexto del debate actual sobre las interacciones entre la habilidad verbal y la teoría de la mente durante la edad preescolar.

The purpose of this article is to analyze some developmental interactions between cognitive processes during the preschool period. In specific, we are interested in the interactions between verbal ability and false-belief understanding. The research explores the performance of boys and girls in the execution of false-belief tasks, and evaluates the possible influence of verbal ability development on the sex differences in the falsebelief scores. In recent times, the emphasis on the sex differences in this dimension of social cognition has been an important issue stemming from the results of current lines of research. The present work is divided in two studies. The Study 1 compares the false-belief understanding and verbal ability of 17 five-year-olds Costa Rican boys and 17 five-year-olds Costa Rican girls, with the false-belief understanding and verbal ability of 17 six-year-olds Costa Rican boys and 17 six-year-olds Costa Rican girls. The main interest of this first study is focused on the identification of interactions between the cognitive processes of the participants. Sub sequently, in Study 2, the same five-year-olds that participated in Study 1 were reevaluated through the same measures after a period of 3 months. The goal of this second study was to follow up the tendencies evidenced in the previous study, after a brief period of time. As an attempt to capture specific details in the development of these processes and given the recommendations of previous works, an interval of 3 months between measures was used here for the first time in the context of this line of research. All the participants were students from a public preschool in the capital city of Costa Rica and native speakers of the Spanish language. Additional inclusion criteria take into account the absence of developmental disorders and other antecedents of psychiatric / psychological intervention. The assessment of false- belief understanding was through a battery that includes four different false-belief tasks. This battery was conformed by 3 first order false-belief tasks, and one second order false-belief task. For the assessment of verbal ability, the study includes 4 subtests (Information, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, and Comprehension) from the WPPSI-III Verbal Ability Scale. The results of the Study 1 evidenced that the six-year-olds girls had significantly higher scores than the five-year-olds girls, both in verbal ability and in false-belief understanding. Interestingly, the improvements in both abilities were mutually dependent. In contrast, the scores at the same variables showed a small but not significant improvement between five and six-year-olds boys. In Study 2, our results confirm these sex differences through the reassessment of the same five-year-olds, and verify that the improvements in both abilities are mutually dependent. The main results of both studies highlights important sex differences in the cognitive development of preschool children. In both studies the false-belief understanding and verbal ability improve significantly in girls but not in boys. The implications of our data are discussed in the context of the actual debate about the interaction between verbal ability and theory of mind during the preschool years. The possible influences of different socialization processes associated with a particular gender are discussed, as well as other tentative mediating factors like the empathic abilities or the influence produced by the context of different daily play scenarios among boys and girls. Research limitations like the particular period of assessment between measures in the Study 2 or the necessity of more tasks for each construct are also discussed. Finally, tentative mechanisms that could account for our data are considered.

Influence of Animation on Autistic Children's False Belief Understanding / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To investigate an effective paradigm to test false belief understanding for the Autism. Method:By comparing the multimedia animation presentation and the traditional presentation, 20 autistic children's false belief understanding was analyzed as well as the normal children's.Results:Animation presentation was really helpful to both groups, especially for the children with autism. The performance might be underestimated due to the application of the traditional presentation in false belief tasks.Conclusion:The autistic children's theory of mind can be measured much closer to the truth if the more apt tasks are considered.

Performance of Theory of Mind Tests in Children and Language Understanding Ability / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective: To investigate the relationship between vocabulary understanding ability and performance of theory-of-mind tests of children and to confirm the applicability of Chinese revision of Theory of Mind Tests in China. Methods: 100 children aged from 3 to 5 years in Harbin City in China completed the Chinese revision of Theory of Mind Tests and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test(PPVT). Results:The pass rates of 'expression recognition' tests from 3 to 5 years groups were 100%, and that of 'expression reasoning' tests were 76%,97%,97%. There were 36%,76%,93% of children passed the 'place change' false belief tests and 15%,42%,59% of children passed the 'content change' false belief tests. From 3 to 5 years groups, significant differences of PPVT IQ were found between groups divided depending on different performances of false belief tests, such as that of children passed place change or not were 104.9?16.9 vs 97.0?15.8,106.7?17.6 vs 99.7?15.9(t=2.22,2.07, P